Ellen eggbound or constipated

[Synirr]

Ellen, the queen of my 10 gallon, was looking really, really swollen yesterday (moreso than usual, hah! She's already a fatty as it is.) It's obviously not dropsy, and she has two distinct "lumps" on either side of her body. I tried backlighting her to see if I could see the eggs, but she's too opaque for that technique. What do you think, is she eggbound, or constipated? I've put her in my 2.5 gallon hospital tank with some salt and will cook her up a pea tonight.

On a side note, I think she's transforming into a gargoyle. Either her top lip is getting really small, or her bottom lip is getting really big (I think it's the former.) She now has a larger-than-normal underbite and looks rather...well... vicious! . It's not lip rot, it's like her lip is just magically shrinking

 

[infant340]

when my female was eggbound i didnt know until after she died...her egg tuby thing got really big.

 

[Nuttygal! :0)]

QUOTE On a side note, I think she's transforming into a gargoyle.

 

[The_Gilly]

can you see alittle white bit on her underside? That's normally a give away.

 

[SRC]

A giveaway for what? All 3 of my girls have a white "bunp" under there.

 

[newfishies]

mine too! i thought all females showed the ovipositor

 

[yvez9]

My 4 females have that too...
i thought it was just a way to tel it is a female and that's where the eggs come from. if it shows they are eggbound though, I guess i'm doing something right!

 

[SRC]

I was under the impression being "eggbound" was not a good thing. So if the white bump is not supposed to show, and means they are eggbound...someone please chime inand set us all straight..as now it seems we are all quite confused.

 

[Synirr]

The ovipositor (white bump on the belly) often becomes extremely swollen when a betta is eggbound... it is normally visible anyway, though, so no worries
Ellen's ovipositior isn't swollen, which is why I went ahead and treated this like a case of constipation. I can't tell if she's any better today, but she's no worse... she's a fat hog anyway, so it's hard to tell

Does anyone know what might be going on with her freakishly deformed face? I'm going to try to get some pictures and show you what I mean...

Edited because I had a dyslexic moment.